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Friday, January 10, 2014

An Overdue Look at Frozen

I am a huge Disney fan, which most people who have met me figure out pretty early on. When Frozen was going to be released, of course I wanted to see it (though I feared the snowman would make it stupid). Isaac took me to see it as part of my Christmas present. And I loved it. Even the snowman.

I think I had "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" stuck in my head for days afterwards until I broke down and bought the soundtrack.

Shortly after that, Isaac and I went to see it again (even Isaac liked it enough to want to see it a second time).

As many of you know, Frozen is a little bit different in terms of Disney princess movies. The handsome prince turns out to be the bad guy and there seems to be little, if any, indication that this will happen. You only get two clues (as far as I can tell) that he might not be as wonderful as he seems. One is being the 13th son in a royal family. Historically speaking, this gave him no chance to move up in status anywhere in his own kingdom--so maybe he wants to move up by going elsewhere, right? Plus, the number 13 is generally assumed to be unlucky or bad (Anyone read "The Thirteenth Child? Good book.) The last little hint is during his song with Anna where he sings, "I've been searching my whole life to find my own place... But with you, I've found my place." While she is singing about him and love, he starts out by singing about finding a place to belong.

There has been a lot of controversy about the prince also being the villain. While I understand a little about the argument against, I thought it was a good (and mildly surprising) plot twist. Plus, it has a ring of truth about it that I don't think people like. Sadly, there are people out there who are not what they seem to be and there are people who will try to take advantage of you. People become very speculative about this whole mess. I say that the take home message is simply, "Be careful." The person in question may turn out to be great! Or not. But don't just give up everything right away. That's what I got out of it. And does there really need to be anything else?

Mostly, I feel that the movie has gotten good reviews. I love that it is essentially an animated musical. I love the sisters and the sister story. Plus, the idea the true love doesn't just mean romantic love, but the love that you have for family or friends, is a great one. The non-romantic love stories were strong in this movie. Predominantly, there is the story with Anna and Elsa. The snowman, Olaf, was willing to melt to save Anna. Kristoff and his reindeer also share a bond of love. It was nice to see that romantic love wasn't the only thing to focus on. As the article above states, "The truth, though, is that there is nothing wrong with girls (or boys)
dreaming of Prince Charming, as long as it’s not the only dream we give
them."

I have a little story to tell before I get into the last point I wanted to touch on.

After I bought the soundtrack, I decided that "Let It Go" was my favorite song. Later, I would catch myself singing "No Good Deed" from the musical Wicked (which I hadn't listened to in months). It took me days to figure out that I was getting that stuck in my head because I was listening to "Let It Go," and another day or so to realize that it was Idina Menzel who *played* Elphaba in the original Wicked who was singing "Let It Go." Duh. I felt dumb. And I still can't figure out why "No Good Deed" got stuck in my head over my favorite "Defying Gravity." Oh well. The message here is that I like her and I love her songs.

Apparently, there are some people who do not like her singing voice. To me, this seems preposterous, but I am not, have never been, and will never be a vocalist. All of the technicalities of the art are entirely beyond me. I just know that I like to listen to her and I love to sing along with her. I have read complaints that, as an alto, she shouldn't be singing "Let It Go," but I can't figure out why. I still think she does it beautifully. And with so much emotion. I have been told (by people who actually understand the technicalities of singing) that I am an alto and I can sing with her. And I enjoy doing so. I guess I just don't know enough to understand what the problem is? Someone could enlighten me. It won't change the fact that I love listening to her, however. Go Idina!

As a side note, my other favorite song just might be "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People."

Without spoiling too much of the story, that is my little review. What did you guys think of the movie?